---
type: "Bill"
title: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning human services."
description: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning human services."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 156"
citation: "Indiana SB 156 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ADMINISTRATION", "STATE DEPARTMENT OF", "DRUGS AND MEDICINES", "DRUGS", "Treatment of Drug and Other Substance Abuse", "FAMILY AND SOCIAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION", "HEALTH", "State Department and Agencies", "HUMAN SERVICES", "LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ed Charbonneau", "Edward Clere", "James Merritt"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 28
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-04"
last_action: "2017-04-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cac24b2a-4be2-40cc-95a3-ff6ff47b7071"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/156"
source_hash: "83081373f367820e1d1920c474538b267250d63a2a4cc88418f0a7c78e285154"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 156 (2017) — A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning human services.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0156/versions/sb0156.03.engs)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0156/versions/sb0156.05.enrh)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0156/versions/sb0156.01.intr)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0156/versions/sb0156.02.coms)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0156/versions/sb0156.04.comh)

## Votes

- SB 156 - Clere - 3rd Reading — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- SB 156 - Merritt - 3rd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Ed Charbonneau — primary (person)
- Edward Clere — primary (person)
- James Merritt — primary (person)
- Charlie Brown — cosponsor (person)
- Cindy Kirchhofer — cosponsor (person)
- Cindy Ziemke — cosponsor (person)
- Dennis Kruse — coauthor (person)
- Jean Breaux — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-04** Authored by Senator Merritt
- **2017-01-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-01-24** Senator Charbonneau added as second author
- **2017-01-26** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-01-30** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-01-30** Placed back on second reading `reading-2`
- **2017-01-31** Amendment #2 (Merritt) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-01-31** Reread second time: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-01-31** Senator Breaux added as coauthor
- **2017-01-31** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2017-02-02** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 54: yeas 45, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-02-02** House sponsor: Representative Clere
- **2017-02-02** Cosponsor: Representative Kirchhofer
- **2017-02-02** Senator Kruse added as coauthor
- **2017-02-08** Referred to the House
- **2017-02-28** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-03-30** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-04-03** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-04-04** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 375: yeas 98, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-04-05** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-05** Representatives Brown, C. and Ziemke added as cosponsors
- **2017-04-12** Motion to concur filed
- **2017-04-17** Senate concurred in House Amendments; Roll Call 472: yeas 45, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the Speaker
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2017-04-25** Public Law 165
- **2017-04-25** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2017-04-25** Signed by the President of the Senate

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cac24b2a-4be2-40cc-95a3-ff6ff47b7071`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).